Educational materials increased strong agreement on biomarker testing importance from 46% to 61% and likelihood to discuss it with doctors from 21% to 36% in MBC patients.
Do educational materials about biomarker testing improve attitudes and the likelihood to discuss testing with doctors in patients with metastatic breast cancer?
Culturally adapted educational materials can effectively increase positive attitudes and the likelihood of discussing biomarker testing with healthcare providers among patients with metastatic breast cancer.
Abstract Background: As part of the No One Missed Campaign, Living Beyond Breast Cancer created educational materials about the importance of biomarker testing for patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Materials were created in English and culturally adapted to Spanish with input from Spanish-speaking patients. We evaluated the educational materials on whether they increased patient knowledge, attitudes, and the likelihood to speak to their doctor, family members, or other MBC patients about biomarker testing. Methods: Patients living with MBC completed an online survey that consisted of answering questions before (baseline survey) and after (endpoint survey) viewing the newly created LBBC educational materials. The surveys and the materials were available in English and Spanish. Survey data was analyzed using descriptive frequencies and mean scores to compare baseline and endpoint results. Results: Twenty-nine participants living with MBC completed the study. Twenty-three participants (79%) completed the study in English while 6 (21%) completed it in Spanish. In total, 60% had been diagnosed with MBC within the past 3 years and 90% were still in treatment. Most (76%) had heard of biomarker testing and 45% had biomarker testing since being diagnosed with MBC. At baseline, 46% of participants strongly agreed that biomarker testing was important, which increased to 61% of participants at endpoint. At baseline, 36% of participants strongly agreed that biomarker testing will improve their cancer journey, which increased to 54% at endpoint. At baseline, 21% of participants strongly agreed that they would talk with their doctor about biomarker testing, compared to 36% at endpoint. Conclusion: The educational materials helped MBC patients learn about biomarker testing, as well as increase positive attitudes towards biomarker testing and the likelihood that patients will speak with their doctor about biomarker testing. Citation Format: T. Petee, A. Dedmon, K. Martin Gonzalez, C. Koffke, A. Leader, J. Sachs. Evaluating the impact of educational materials about biomarker testing for patients with metastatic breast cancer abstract. In: Proceedings of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2025; 2025 Dec 9-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2026;32(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PS5-10-02
Petee et al. (2026) studied this question. Educational materials increased strong agreement on biomarker testing importance from 46% to 61% and likelihood to discuss it with doctors from 21% to 36% in MBC patients.